Cali, from the obituaries that I've read, I think it's pretty standard for them to not list a cause of death. If they do, it's usually something general such as due to a longtime illness. I don't remember ever reading one that said due to a homicide or a suicide. I believe the content of the obituary is determined by the family.

It is very sad what happened to Kerra. It's mind boggling to think about the amount of cases we have on this site where boyfriends or step-parents were responsible for a child's disappearance or murder.

HARRISON, Neb. — A Mitchell man charged with killing his stepdaughter could be tried as early as March.

Salvador Carl Lopez, 32, has been charged with first-degree murder, a Class I felony, in the Sept. 21 death of 8-year-old Kerra Wilson. He appeared for the first time in district court Tuesday morning.

Prosecutor Joe Stecher, a Sioux County deputy attorney and a former U.S. Attorney for the District of Nebraska, filed an additional aggravated circumstances in the case, the necessary filing for the state to seek the death penalty in the case.

In order to seek the death penalty, the state must indicate, and later prove, that at least one aggravated circumstance exists in the case. The complaint identified Lopez's attempt to conceal the crime or the perpetrator as the circumstance.

The lead investigator in the Kerra Wilson murder case says the sentence of life in prison without parole for the eight year old's killer is a victory for investigators.

Salvador Lopez, Wilson's stepfather, received the mandatory life sentence Thursday after pleading guilty to an amended first degree murder charge that was absent the aggravating circumstance for him to receive the death penalty.

HARRISON, Neb. — A plea agreement means a Mitchell man will spend life in prison for strangling and striking his 8-year-old stepdaughter with a shovel, killing her on Sept. 21, Sioux County Attorney Adam Edmund said Thursday.

An investigator said she was relieved by the deal, which brings some closure in the case in which Salvador Carl Lopez, 32, admitted also having sexually assaulted the girl.

Nebraska State Patrol Lt. Monica Bartling said the deal spares Kerra Wilson's family from a trial with the horrifying details of her death, she said.